A large cost is inflicted on cellular network operators by the user practice of returning devices for repair that are not actually defective. There are several reasons for this problem: some operating intermittencies may not be caught during in store testing of a defective device, or the problem may be caused by peripheral devices that are not returned with the supposedly faulty phone. A large portion of the problem may be attributed to user configuration errors, network configuration errors, or user software add-ons that are installable in the phone but may not be completely compatible with the particular phone set up and its particular network. Only a small fraction of returns are due to actual failure of the hardware.
In some cases more thorough diagnostics of devices with problems are needed than the diagnostics that are available currently. These diagnostics should not merely rely on internal functional diagnostics, but they should also include hardware configuration diagnostics, program configuration diagnostics, and network configuration diagnostics; and they should also look for other factors, including but not limited to program compatibility issues.
Often the exchange of data objects between different phones is desired or required. Some phones do not support such a feature; other phones have very limited ability. For example, such phones may allow exchange of an object such as a business card, but do not support exchange of pictures or other larger graphic images.
What is needed is a system and method for tracking and detecting device failures, and by doing so analyzing the problems and detecting the incorrect return of hardware, thus reducing dramatically the overall cost of network operations. What is also needed is a system and method that allows the exchange of any kind of object between two phones, whether exchange is originally supported by these phones or not, in a secure and safe manner.